Groundnuts: Other Species

Two other species of groundnut are also grown, although they have been largely supplanted by A. hypogaea:

• the Bambarra groundnut, Voandzeia subterranea, in tropical Africa, Madagascar, Brazil, and parts of Asia; and

• the Hausa or Kersting’s groundnut, Kerstingiella geocarpa, in many parts of W. Africa.

Bambarra groundnuts must be cooked before being eaten. Boiled fresh, they make a good vegetable, like lima beans in flavour. In W. Africa they are often prepared by boiling and then crushing them into cakes or balls. If these are fried in palm oil, they keep relatively well.